The Library in Lorien
by Twenty Four Hours Open
Summary: Haldir and Pariel agreed to an arrangement to keep them both safe, sane, and single. Unfortunately, this arrangement backfires as Erestor of Imladris arrives with the sole purpose of unmasking their farcical relationship….
1. Orcs and Orcish Things

**Disclaimer: Do you think I own Lord of the Rings? If you are not a Lawyer and you answered yes to that question, keep on believing. If you **are **a lawyer and you believed that…don't inform Christopher Tolkien of how much you like/loathe his fanfic….**

Orcs and Orcish Things

                "Rúmil!"

                Rúmil stopped, but not mostly of his own volition. He nearly tumbled forward as someone grabbed his tunic from behind and pulled him backwards as if he were about to collide with a Balrog. His tunic was released and he was spun around forcefully only to find a horrified and anxious elleth the cause of his discomfort. 

                "Lady?" Rúmil was all but certain he'd never met the elleth before in all his years, but she was rather pretty, albeit about an inch or so too short for his tastes. Auburn hair, fairly long, willowy, she had particularly long fingers, and a pair of the muddled grey-green eyes. She wasn't the Lady of Light, but she wasn't an orc. He'd never turned down such a fervent woman before; he had no intention of starting now!

                "You must help me, quickly,' she whispered in a clipped tone and Rúmil grinned roguishly.

                "Anything you require," Rúmil said as he bowed but she ignored him.

                "Where is your brother's talan?" She took him by the shoulders as he bowed, stared him dead in the eyes, and shook him slightly as she nearly shouted her question—her whole form screamed urgency. Needless to say, Rúmil was hopelessly confused and somewhat astounded by her straightforwardness.

                "Why—?" 

                "Where!" She shook him again and he furrowed his brow.

                "Which one?" Rúmil was slightly vexed now, as it seemed he was _not_ going to be having a particularly…satisfying day.

                "He has more than one brother!?" She paled but shook off her astonishment. "Haldir! Haldir!"

                "Haldir?" Rúmil instantly recoiled from her and stared down at her incredulously. "You wish to do **what**, precisely, in Haldir's talan?" Rúmil was mortified at the thought, but judging by the way her face went puzzled then sickened, she had not been thinking along even a line remotely near to his own.

                "I need to warn him, fool of an ellon!" She glanced over her shoulder even as she reprimanded him, and he arched an eyebrow at her.

                "Warn him? Of what, pray tell?"

                "A relative, of sorts, come to unmask us!" she whispered cryptically in reply.

                "Unmask you? Madam, just who _are_ you?" Rúmil asked, his patience wearing thin and his confusion more than evident.

                "Pariel of the Lord's Library," she responded hastily and Rúmil's mind worked to identify the name.

                "Pariel?" Rúmil asked and frowned as he dug up old, obscure memories. He recalled there was an elleth who organized all of Lord Celeborn's and Lady Galadriel's scrolls, papers, affairs, and written belongings, but he'd never taken the time to meet her. In fact, he'd been informed that the elleth was positively a troll! 

                This part, he realized as he looked her over, was a great exaggeration…lest they be referring to her general reception of guests (or treatment of Marchwardens, for that matter). 

                "Yes, the troll!" Pariel shot him an annoyed look as he glanced over her, having surmised his indirect mental referencing of her.

                "How do _you_ know Haldir?" Rúmil, as an afterthought, regretted the amount of emphasis he had placed on the word 'you' as, considering it an insult, she had just barely kept herself from slapping him.

                "You are of no aid and already they have entered the wood! Bah!" Pariel threw up her arms at him, her face still somewhat red with anger at his unhelpful nature and insulting queries, and stalked away swiftly to find another to aid her.

                "Pariel?" Rúmil repeated and turned to head back towards Orophim's talan. This was most curious, most curious indeed. He felt a little regretful that he had not only insulted her but had also failed to give her any information whatsoever, but that could be rectified with Haldir later. That was, assuming Haldir had even the faintest recollection of who this girl was. 

                Rúmil had shuffled the concerning and confusing situation with the Lord and Lady's librarian into the back of his mind by the time he arrived at Orophim's talan. He threw open the door upon his arrival and sashayed into the main room dramatically. The two elves present, Orophim by the sink and Haldir at the table across the room from him, just stared at him unenthusiastically as he stopped in the center of the room and lifted his hands up.

                "I am arrived!" Rúmil proclaimed and Orophim shot him a dirty look.

                "If you were any less of an orc, I would demand you shut the door!" Orophim walked from the sink and closed the door with the same lofty flourish Rúmil had used in opening it.

                "Ah, but dear brother, if I am an orc, what would that make Haldir and you?" Rúmil asked sassily as he walked to the table and sat down in one of the plain, wooden chairs.

                "Adopted," Haldir answered with a smirk and Rúmil rolled his eyes. 

                "How hysterical you have become!" Rúmil exclaimed and Haldir scoffed. "Oh, right." Rúmil sat up and gave up on his obvious overacting as the word 'hysterical' reminded him of his earlier predicament.

                "'Oh, right,' what?" Haldir asked and arched an eyebrow.

                "A hysterical elleth drew me aside today and claimed she knew you." Rúmil waved his hand about in the air as he spoke. "Something about relative unmasking, I believe." Haldir said nothing, but the way his brow furrowed and the skeptical look he shot at Rúmil spoke volumes. 

                "She claimed she knew Haldir?" Orophim asked as he finished cleaning his dishes and walked over to the table.

                "Indeed she did." Rúmil nodded.

                "Brave she is, indeed!" Orophim laughed and Haldir sneered at him playfully (at least, that was, if anything Haldir did could be considered _playful_).

                "Tell me, Rúmil." Haldir shifted his skeptical gaze back onto his younger brother. "What was this hysterical elleth's name?"

                "Pariel, I believe it was," Rúmil answered after a moment of thought.

                "Pariel?" Haldir pondered for a moment and, abruptly, his expression went blank. "What, exactly, did she say to you?"

                "Surely you're joking!" Rúmil laughed and, judging by Haldir's lack of a sneer, he was not. "You know this girl?" Haldir didn't move as he was apparently still awaiting an answer. "I do not recall, precisely, what she said—she was frantic and asked where your talan was."

                "Frantic?" Haldir stiffened and a strange look crossed his face for a moment—something akin to unease and suspicion.

                "Come to think of it," Rúmil said after a moment of pondering, "she did mention something about people entering the wood."

                "People entering the wood?" Orophim asked and sat down in the third and final empty chair. "The twin sons of Elrond are coming sometime this week—Haldir?" Orophim was a bit taken aback as Haldir stood up and made for the door.

                "Apologies, Orophim," Haldir said as he reached the door. "I have pressing matters to attend to."

                As Haldir was leaving Orophim's talan and, vicariously, both of his thoroughly confused brothers, Pariel had only just arrived back at the Lord's Library. She paced outside, before the doors, and stopped every elf who passed by her and demanded directions of them. Most couldn't tell her the time of day, let alone the location of the Captain of the Galadhrim's talan. She had just finished formally shaking Istuion, one of the royal pages, when her queries were halted by the arrival of the Lady of Light.

                "Pariel? Is something unwell?" Galadriel asked and Pariel promptly released Istuion. Pariel bowed forward, formally, as she had always done, and when she looked up, the Lady was smiling lightly at her.

                "Milady, would you, perchance…" Pariel paused and carefully thought over her wording—it would be unwise to ask such a thing bluntly, as even though they were officially engaged in romantic activities, she did not know the ellon well enough.

                "Know where you might find Haldir's talan?" Galadriel finished after a pause and Pariel flushed red—in her flurry she had forgotten the Lady's abilities.

                "No! …Yes…um…I mean," Pariel stuttered, horrified that she'd almost shouted in reply to the Lady of Light. Galadriel, however, did not seem insulted. In fact, she seemed rather amused at Pariel's antics.

                "When you have decided what, exactly, it is you wish to know," Galadriel said and set a hand on the anxious elleth's shoulder, "I will aid you."

                "Thank you, Milady," Pariel said and bowed as Galadriel walked by—she couldn't be certain, but it had sounded like Galadriel had laughed at her!

                Pariel turned as the Lady passed out of sight and continued her pacing. She was unaware of it, but in her moody pacing she had begun picking at her fingernails subconsciously. It had always been a nervous tick of hers to fidget so when under extreme duress, and this was once such incident. Where was Haldir! She had to warn him before they arrived—this was terrible! Terrible beyond comprehension.

                "Haldir you orcish fool!" Pariel swore under her breath as she turned to continue back the other direction, but was halted in her tracks.

                "Orcish fool?" Haldir asked an arched an eyebrow. Pariel was so shocked and taken aback by his sudden approach and so elated by his appearance that she forgot her own insult and neglected to explain it to him.

                "Erestor is to arrive with the twins!" Pariel blurted out, unceremoniously, and Haldir blinked at her. 

                "This is what you wished to inform me of?" Haldir asked slowly, as if waiting for the news, which was dark enough to deserve his time.

                "You're head is as thick as these doors," Pariel hissed and motioned towards the Library. Haldir scowled at her, unused to such a familiar and biting comment from such a distant and unemotional acquaintance. Pariel took a deep breath and regained her stoic composure. "Try to remember, back when we arranged our plans, what did I tell you?"

                "You would forsake all relationships in order to keep my welfare as a bachelor intact and I would do thusly in return," Haldir replied flatly and Pariel motioned for him to continue. "This was a most simple arrangement, I do not understand what you wish me to add." Haldir stared at her and she shook her head.

                "I told you, but you did not listen." Pariel sighed. "I had this same arrangement with Erestor of Imladris when I lived within the House of Elrond, I told you this."

                "I recall." Haldir waved off the information, momentarily, but his mind recoiled as he considered the current situation. "What are we to do of this?" Haldir asked, unable to keep all urgency from his voice.

                "I explained this to Erestor, but he took our arrangement," Pariel motioned between Haldir and herself to clarify the pronoun, "not half so well as I had anticipated. His last letter was, to say the least, vexed."

                "You cannot break this agreement." Haldir jumped to conclusions quickly, but his exterior remained impenetrably flat. "I would be stormed by elleth after elleth wishing no more than to _comfort me_ in _my time of need_!" Haldir finished the last bit in a low whisper.

                "I was not thinking of it!" Pariel replied angrily. "I would not have told you if I planned to abandon you—wait…"she paused. That had not come out right. "Never mind that! The fact of the matter yet remains—I have no intention of breaking our agreement! Erestor, however, might have plans to disrupt the situation himself."

                "What do you wish me do?" Haldir asked as he arched an eyebrow—he sounded decidedly relieved that she had chosen to continue on as his shield from the husband-hungry females of Lórien.  
                "It is highly likely Erestor will seek to display our lacking relations and unmask us for the poor actors we are, most probably in front of a very large, very gossip prone crowd." Pariel flinched at the idea. "If you wish to keep this arrangement in tact, I recommend you and I appear more affectionate of one another." Pariel frowned at the idea and Haldir stared at her disinterestedly.

                "Agreed."

                The two shared a serious look and both bowed forward—they almost looked as if they were marching off to war. If there was one person who could unearth all truths and present them, bared, to the masses it was Erestor of Imladris. His eyes missed nothing. They would have to be stealthy, affectionate, silent when away, but more than anything, they would have to be** perfect**. 

                However, there was something they did not know when they decided upon this course of action. Erestor, Elrohir, and Elladan had already arrived within the borders of Caras Galadhon.  Their plan, from the very beginning, was all for naught. Elrohir, with his sharp eyes and keen ears, had heard their conversation as he took leave of his Grandmother and went to return one of his Grandfather's books. Naturally, when dealing in such things as secret pacts of deception, Elrohir remained secret and only moved from his hidden location once the two had separated and, it was likely, traveled to opposite sides of Lórien to recuperate and gather strength, mental and physical, for their latest challenge.

                "Most intriguing," Elrohir commented roguishly as he moved into the library to return the book. "Erestor and Elladan will be most interested in this!"

**Author's Notes:** Sorry I haven't continued Open Doors (to the few of you who read that) but this just struck my fancy. (I still need a beta for both, by the way.) There are too few fics with Erestor, there should be more, but for some reason there aren't. And, speaking of undervalued secondary characters who should be featured as main characters, has anyone else noticed how the majority of fanfiction even including Elladan and Elrohir only feature/reference them when Rúmil and Orophim are present? Sad, really.

I hope you enjoyed. 

Do you know what I enjoy?

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Reviews.

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24/7__


	2. Denied

Denied.

"Pariel!" 

Pariel froze and her back stiffened involuntarily—she recognized that voice far too well to risk reaction. Elladan might have been a jokester and an elfling at heart, but he was very astute. Pariel forced a benign look of benevolent amusement across her face—an expression she had learned from the Lady herself—and turned to welcome one of the twin sons of Elrond. Elladan was clad in white—most likely provided by his grandparents, the Lord and Lady—and grinned at her in his most impish and endearing fashion. She ignored the look, as she had always, and rose out of her chair to bow and welcome him.

"Lord Elladan, how good it is to see you once more," Pariel said, calmly, despite the fact that her pulse was racing and she was screaming in the back of her mind—Elladan was nearby, Elrohir would not be far off, and Erestor was certainly headed towards the library as they spoke!

"I will have none of that," Elladan admonished cheerfully and Pariel inclined her head, allowing some of her braids to slip free from their precariously elaborate placement on her head.

"As you wish." Pariel tried her best to ignore the three auburn braids that now obscured her vision of him. He laughed at her and she straightened up abruptly as he moved to push the braids out of her face. He frowned slightly, but his expression fell back to normal quickly and she moved the hair back herself. "Might I inquire as to the purpose of your visiting me?"

"Am I not allowed to visit old friends?" Elladan asked as he leaned on her wide, wooden desk and grinned.

"I was unaware of the fact that I was old," Pariel smirked as Elladan blanched, "that we were friends, even somewhat, however, did not escape my mental quartering."

"Ah poor word choice—."

"Diction." Pariel corrected him. He seemed a bit surprised by this, but it was habit for her—or had become habit as she often corrected or supplemented words in some of the more formal messages from the Lord or Lady.

"What?" Elladan asked, his face the picture of shock as he had obviously mistaken the meaning of the word.

"Diction, as in to dictate," Pariel elaborated as she moved around the desk and began to replace scattered books to their places on the shelves. "It means word-usage."

"Ah, right, I knew that." Elladan cleared his throat and Pariel cracked a smile. 

"Of course you did, Lord Elladan." Pariel knelt down to replace a book onto one of the lower shelves. "You were simply testing my knowledge in that most sly methodology of yours."

"Indeed." Elladan sounded almost haughty.

"Where has your brother strayed to, this journey? If it is not too bold to ask." Pariel moved back to the table and picked up another armful of books that had been taken and later returned.

"He is wandering Annana's gardens." Pariel could not help but smile at the term of endearment so unfitting of the Lady of Light—_an_, meaning by or with, and _nana_—a bastardized combination that greatly resembled the word _anann_ , long, or old. Older Mother. Leave it to the sons of Elrond to create such an adorable and ill-fitting nickname. True, Lord Celeborn's nickname of Anadar, supposedly older father, was not so much more suitable, but they rarely used it any longer.

"He is so much more peaceful than his brother, I notice," Pariel commented blandly and she heard as Elladan stood up and away from the table. That floorboard always creaked too loudly for her tastes.

"And what, pray tell, is that supposed to mean?" Elladan didn't sound offended by the thought—in fact, his voice almost sounded appreciative of the concept.

"Simply that the second of the two might have done well to spend more time with Lord Erestor over Lord Glorfindel." Pariel replaced a book into the shelf before her and she heard the floor behind her creak. There was a slight breeze and she smirked as she assumed Elladan was, once more, trying to trick her as he had so often back in Rivendell. She stretched up to replace a book to the highest shelf and was not at all surprised when it was taken out of her hands and placed there by someone taller than she.

"You are easily reduced to silen—Erestor!" Pariel turned but the person she saw shocked her enough to cause her drop the remaining two tomes in her hands. Erestor, advisor to Elrond, stood before her in his black robes, a stoic look of disinterest across his face but a light of familial recognition in his normally distant eyes. He did not flinch as she shouted his name, only inches from his face, nor did he step back as she dropped the books. He simply continued to stare at her, mildly amused behind his frosty exterior.

"Pariel, it has been a long time," Erestor said calmly, stepped back, and bowed to her slightly.

"Indeed!" Pariel's voice cracked as she said the word and she flushed. "How long will you be visiting?" She was backed up against the bookcase already and looked quite ready to spin around and climb up the piece of furniture should Erestor step any closer.

"It is hard to say," Erestor responded cryptically but remained firmly where he stood.

"Why, is that?" Pariel forced herself to calm down and slid away from the bookcase, quickly retreating to her desk.

"I have several matters in which the outcome is…uncertain." Erestor calmly turned and glanced over her impeccably neat desk. He arched an eyebrow and then glanced back up at her. "I am come to Lórien to weather the proverbial storm."

"I see." Pariel pulled out her chair and sat down. She didn't bother to offer Erestor a chair—if he wanted one, he would not hesitate to drawn one up for himself, her leave or no. "What did you do to Glorfindel this time around?" Pariel tried to make light of their conversation, but failed. Erestor looked bemused at the idea, but he said nothing—nothing about Glorfindel, at least.

"Haldir of Lórien?" Erestor asked, cutting straight to the point as was his way. Pariel took a deep breath and forced a smile across her features.

"He is a Marchwarden and Captain of the Galadhrim," Pariel stated and Erestor stared at her disinterestedly. 

"Indeed."

"He is quite the gentleman." Pariel winced internally as she said this. Erestor's expression went flat and the way he looked at her in response could only be described as 'peering'. Erestor knew little of Haldir, but everyone knew he was no gentleman. "Once one falls into his good graces." Pariel attempted a save, but Erestor had already seen through her comment.

"We shall see." Erestor bowed to her, turned, and well might have intended to leave but Pariel stopped him.

"Erestor, wait—." Pariel leaned over the table and Erestor looked over his shoulder at her. She wanted to tell him not to act rashly, but he never did (not unless Glorfindel was involved in some way), and to ask such a thing would give both Haldir and her away most definitely. "I—." Pariel found herself at a loss for words. An unidentifiable emotion flashed through Erestor's eyes and he turned away from her. He walked out the door without another word and left Pariel alone in the library once more.

Erestor wandered about, seeking the lost two twins to do his bidding, unaware of the fact that both of them had already arrived in the presence of their greatest friends in Lórien—the eldest and the youngest of the fabled (at least among elleths) Galadhrim Brothers. Haldir, as hard as he worked, refused to rest even on his vacations—these were, in fact, quite few and far between. On his vacations he was well known for very nearly living at the archery range, instructing any who cared, seriously, to learn. Rúmil and Orophin were often present at these lessons, or they had been, of late, due to Haldir's reactions to those who wanted less to learn archery and more to stare at him.

"Denied." Rúmil winced as Haldir walked past an obscenely overly flirtatious elleth and moved down the line of archers he was aiding.

"Most unequivocally," Orophin agreed and continued to idly inspect the training bows that resided on the rack beside them.

"I am starting to think, dear brother," Rúmil paused as he watched the angered coquettish elleth stalk by with two of her less angered but indignant friends. They very nearly threw their bows onto the rack and marched off cursing Pariel's name. 

"Starting to think! My, my, have we arrived at this crossroads yet?" Orophin asked cheekily but somehow managed a straight face.

"Amusing," Rúmil said and added in a blatantly fake laugh, "As I was saying, I am starting to think that the rumors concerning the librarian Pariel are somewhat…how can I put it?"

"Gender biased?" Orophin supplied and Rúmil snapped his fingers.

"Exactly." Rúmil turned and Orophin stepped away from the rack as another frustrated admirer of Haldir marched away.

"I know not what they see in him," Orophin said, rather bluntly, as they watched Haldir (looking mildly sickened) turn down a male admirer by reminding all present of his romantic entanglement with the librarian. The elf stalked past Rúmil and Orophin, shot them a dirty look, and very nearly growled as he walked away.

"Neither do we."

Rúmil and Orophin turned around and grins spread over their faces nearly instantly as they recognized Elladan and Elrohir standing behind them, clad all in white, and grinning like madmen themselves. Elladan and Elrohir stepped up, between the two, and the line of eligible, exceedingly handsome, and infamously mischievous ellon watched as the rest of the would be admirers were shirked off rather callously. Elladan and Elrohir bristled occasionally and stared somewhat incredulously at some of the retreating elves as they heard the things muttered about either Haldir or Pariel, but refused to comment until they were certain the only ones remaining at the range were fully interested in archery.

"We have it—." Elrohir started but Elladan interrupted him.

"On good authority, mind you," Elladan interjected and Elrohir shot him a callous look before continuing.

"That Pariel of Imladris—."

"Currently Pariel of Lórien," Elladan interrupted again.

"Is romantically involved with one Haldir or the Galadhrim." Elrohir finished and stared at Elladan.

"What is it brother? Oh honestly! I'm not so rude as to amend you once you've finished so totally." Elladan rolled his eyes and Elrohir sighed.

"Indeed," Elrohir commented and Elladan screwed up his face.

"You sound more as Erestor with every passing moment!" In response to this, Elrohir only arched an eyebrow.

"Alas, we digress," Elrohir began and, this time, Rúmil and Orophin interrupted him.

"It seems you do," Orophin said slyly.

"Quite decidedly," Rúmil added.

"Often." Both finished in unison and Elladan looked slightly affronted.

"What know you of this engagement?" Elrohir cut to the chase and both Rúmil and Orophin shared a look.

"I knew only of Haldir's knowledge of her, having been only vaguely privy to any romanticism," Orophin said.

"I knew only recently of even the former—but engaged?" Rúmil arched an eyebrow and Elrohir stared at him.

"They two are not engaged?" Elrohir asked, incredulously.

"To my knowledge," Orophin began, quietly so as not to alert Haldir, "they have done little more than the cursory greeting at any public assembly."

"Erestor will make quick work of this," Elladan interjected with a bit of bitter satisfaction.

"What mean you, quick work?" Rúmil folded his arms across his chest and eyed Elladan.

"Erestor will move quickly to supplant Haldir," Elrohir stated rather bluntly.

"Now Elrohir, I mean you no offense," Orophin prefaced. "But I am highly skeptical that any man could remove from Haldir's possession what he has dubbed his."

"Dubbed her his!" Elladan snorted in a very un-elven fashionand even his brother shot him a strange look.

"Nevertheless!" Rúmil started, very quickly. "I doubt anyoneshort of Glorfindel could sweep that decidedly snappish elleth off her feet!"

"What mean you by that?" Elladan blustered and Rúmil eyed him.

"She leapt first towards the charms of Rúmil and left without so much as a passing glance," Rúmil admitted, begrudged.

"She is already with Haldir, you are naught but a consort." Elladan looked a bit smug at the knowledge that Pariel had turned him down. Why he was so smug at this was a long story involving Erestor, Pariel, he, and several hundred declined invitations.

"Zounds! A consort?" Rúmil exclaimed and several of the archers jumped. "Make you minstrels of us?" Rúmil asked scathingly and Orophin took him by the shoulder.

"As entertaining as I am certain this would be, I do believe we have interrupted the class," Orophin said quickly and the two quarrelling ellyn turned to see Haldir and several of the archers glaring at them.

"I concur," Elrohir added and the four of them left the range hastily.

"I daresay Pariel will return with us to Imladris," Elladan boasted rather snidely and smirked at Rúmil—the two, it seemed, had developed a short-lived rivalry.

"You put much stock in a Librarian over a Marchwarden!" Rúmil shot back and both he and Elladan shared a prolonged glare.

"I would outstock my librarian **'**ere I put any in a Marchwarden!" Elladan hissed. There was a long silence.

"What does that even mean?" Rúmil asked, angry, but perplexed.

"I. Don't. Know." Elladan shot back as if it were an insult.

"I believe we should separate them," Elrohir said as the two elves glared one another down.

"I concur." Orophin nodded and either elf took their brother by the arm and proceeded to drag them off in opposite directions. Sadly, as either was being force away from the archery ranges they made quite a lot of noise and shouted a few _very colorful metaphors_ at one another.

"You have the grace of the edain!" Rúmil countered as he strained against Orophin's grasp.

"Ha! We'll see, you son of an orc!"

"Orc? Have at thee!" Rúmil swung his fists menacingly but was quickly thrown off balance and rendered harmless as Orophin grabbed his legs and proceeded to drag him away, literally.

"You seek to kill me through laughter! You punch like a small elleth!" Elladan shouted back and Elrohir pulled him away by the back of his tunic.

"What, in the name of Eru, is going on here?" Elladan froze and Elrohir dropped him, unceremoniously, to the ground. 

"Erestor!" Elladan scrambled off the ground and Elrohir stepped away from him.

"Have the twin sons of Elrond been so reduced as to insults of this caliber?" Erestor asked, incredulously, and Elladan paled.

"You heard?" Elladan flushed and Erestor arched an eyebrow.

"I doubt there were many who didn't," Erestor answered stoically. "Though I have yet in me enough sense not to repeat them."

"You arrived at quite the time, Erestor," Elrohir started and Erestor shifted his gaze off of the flustered Elladan. "Just after the nick of time, in fact."

"What do you mean?" Erestor asked and Elrohir smirked.

"Elladan has been, rather fervently, defending your honor for the last few minutes." Elrohir neglected to mention the point or purpose of the argument, but Erestor didn't seem to notice, or care, for that matter.

"Indeed," Erestor said, "I heard something along the lines of 'take Haldir with one hand behind his velvet clad back,' correct?"

"I-um…." Elladan thought it best not to say anything and simply stood tall and silent as he flushed.

"Right," Erestor redirected the conversation quickly; "I have a meeting with Lord Celeborn, after which we will be dining with the Lord and Lady, the Marchwardens, and several of the various staff. I suggest you…change before then." Erestor cast a glance over Elladan's dirtied, once white clothing, and arched an eyebrow. Elladan quickly bowed, as did Elrohir, and Erestor inclined his head before walking away from the two.

**Author's Notes:** Wow! So many readers tried out that little purple button. (Seriously, just look down beneath these notes! I'm not kidding…it's right there. Cool, huh?)

Thanks to all of you—this chapter is a bit less…hmm…direct that I originally wanted. However, I did manage to sneak in a Romeo and Juliet sub-structure. (I'm going to assume, however, that all you clever people figured that out when you hit the word 'consort' or 'zounds' and have already calculated out the relationships.)

I'm not certain how long the next chapter will take as currently I am a bit depressed by the fact that Professor Tolkien spent his whole life on these stories…and the only way I can express my thanks is by writing romances.

Alas.

Many thanks and much praise to my wonderful and insightful beta, Celeb Gwiwileth!


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